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The Blues prepare to welcome the Valiants on Saturday holding the advantage on previous meetings between the two teams in Carlisle. Of the 12 games played United have won five while Port Vale have been victorious just twice.
The most recent encounter between the sides at Brunton Park was in November last season in League One as the Cumbrians came back from two goals down to win 3-2. The visitors were 2-0 up with 65 minutes gone thanks to first-half goals from Paul Harsley and now-United man Jeff Smith before three strikes in the last 24 minutes from Derek Holmes, Karl Hawley and Peter Murphy in front of 7,543 spectators crowned a remarkable victory for the Blues.
Carlisle's biggest win at home over the Valiants came before the Second World War in the 1936-37 season, on the back of a 5-2 win. The United goals that day coming courtesy of a Joe Mantle brace, Peter McArdle, Joe Taylor and John Cliffe as the Blues found themselves 4-1 up at half-time in front of 4,691 fans inside Brunton Park.
Vale's two wins in Cumbria have both been by a three goal margin, 3-0 in the Fourth Division in 1958-59 (attendance - 6,110) and 4-1 way back in the Third Division North in 1929-30 (attendance - 8,784), United's goal in that match coming, unsurprisingly in those days, from Jimmy McConnell.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2006/2007 | Sat 07 Apr | Port Vale | 0 - 2 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 2006/2007 | Sat 25 Nov | Carlisle | 3 - 2 | Port Vale | LGE1 |
| 2001/2002 | Tue 16 Oct | Port Vale | 2 - 1 | Carlisle | ASSM |
| 1996/1997 | Tue 24 Sep | Carlisle | 2 - 2 | Port Vale | LGEC |
| 1996/1997 | Tue 17 Sep | Port Vale | 1 - 0 | Carlisle | LGEC |
| 1986/1987 | Sat 11 Apr | Port Vale | 0 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 1986/1987 | Tue 04 Nov | Carlisle | 2 - 0 | Port Vale | LGE1 |
Recent respective form guides
Carlisle have lost just once in their last six home games, winning four and drawing the other one, the one defeat coming at the hands of Stockport in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. A healthy total of 12 goals have been scored by the Cumbrians in those games although a weighty seven have also been conceded.
In complete contrast to United, Port Vale are having a torrid time on their travels lately, accumulating just one victory and one draw from their last six matches played on the road. The Valiants have conceded nine goals in these games and have only managed to hit the net themselves three times in reply.
Carlisle are just outside the automatic League One promotion places, in third, having taken 39 points from their 22 games played to date. Meanwhile Port Vale find themselves stuck right at the bottom of the division with their 24 games contested so far in League One only yielding a meagre total of 17 points.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Last six games form guide | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Carlisle | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| Port Vale | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
It's good news for Carlisle fans because, with them being in such great nick at Brunton Park, the Footymad panel can't see any further than an emphatic home win for the Cumbrians. Home win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Carlisle | Won three successive home games. Five matches since last home draw. |
| Port Vale | No win in the six most recent games. Lost all previous three away matches. |